Ulster v Dragons Fri April 14 7:35pm

[big mervyn]

Stockdale hit a 50/22 from inside his own 22 (a 22/22 if you will) early in the season.

[Deraless]

I know Stockdale has a big boot and has creamed the odd one but it's just weird they revert to him as first receiver for clearance kicks right after Leinster did it against us?

[flatpass]

I know Stockdale has a big boot and has creamed the odd one but it's just weird they revert to him as first receiver for clearance kicks right after Leinster did it against us?

Don’t think it’s so much to do with what Leinster did against us as Lowry and Burns not getting sufficient length on their clearances in that fixture.

[CIMANFOREVER]

To be fair Moore looks like he can get length at FB

[UlsterNo9]

Stockdale has a big boot but his clearance kicks off scrum half to touch weren't great.

He seemed to be rushed, and trying to hit them too hard. Didn't make anymore yardage than little legs Burns or Lowry would have gotten.

[Dave]

Ulster have very poor kicking options. Hence why we over utilise the box kick.

[HammerTime]

Lowrys needs to perfect the spiral kick. Can get much more distance although it is much harder to execute well. Also needs to learn the GAA style catch as he just gets drowned out on every contestable high ball. Loses practically every one. Even a Keenan style slap back would be much more effective than what he’s currently doing (dropping or losing out to opposition … almost every time). Keenan has this now down to a fine art and he’s not the tallest. It can’t go on us having such an unreliable fullback. Doesn’t matter how many metres he’s made going forward this season.

[Bangors]

[UlsterNo9]

Lowrys needs to perfect the spiral kick. Can get much more distance although it is much harder to execute well. Also needs to learn the GAA style catch as he just gets drowned out on every contestable high ball. Loses practically every one. Even a Keenan style slap back would be much more effective than what he’s currently doing (dropping or losing out to opposition … almost every time). Keenan has this now down to a fine art and he’s not the tallest. It can’t go on us having such an unreliable fullback. Doesn’t matter how many metres he’s made going forward this season.

I'm open to correction but I don't think his metres made would be above average for a fullback this season. There was a period he would of had a line break most matches, those days are long gone. Not sighting this as solely a Lowry issue, our backline has not been great to watch this season.

[Dave]

Lowrys needs to perfect the spiral kick. Can get much more distance although it is much harder to execute well. Also needs to learn the GAA style catch as he just gets drowned out on every contestable high ball. Loses practically every one. Even a Keenan style slap back would be much more effective than what he’s currently doing (dropping or losing out to opposition … almost every time). Keenan has this now down to a fine art and he’s not the tallest. It can’t go on us having such an unreliable fullback. Doesn’t matter how many metres he’s made going forward this season.

It's very frustrating as these guys literally get paid to practice these things on a daily basis. It's their effing job!

[allezlesverres]

Lowrys needs to perfect the spiral kick. Can get much more distance although it is much harder to execute well. Also needs to learn the GAA style catch as he just gets drowned out on every contestable high ball. Loses practically every one. Even a Keenan style slap back would be much more effective than what he’s currently doing (dropping or losing out to opposition … almost every time). Keenan has this now down to a fine art and he’s not the tallest. It can’t go on us having such an unreliable fullback. Doesn’t matter how many metres he’s made going forward this season.

I really doubt the spiral kick is the answer. Even with the most capable kickers (spoiler alert Ulster don't have any in this category), it's a high risk kick. That's why you see it so rarely. Even the best kicker in the world will slice some of them and you can't risk that from a clearing kick in your 22. Your man prendergast (who looks excellent btw) had one successful spiral and one horrible sliced one in Leinsters game at the weekend. The latter caused more harm than the benefit accrued from the former. Had he opted for a normal kick on both occasions Leinster would have been in a better position overall.

Ulster's problem is just a lack of decent kicking coaching.

[big mervyn]

I'm open to correction but I don't think his metres made would be above average for a fullback this season. There was a period he would of had a line break most matches, those days are long gone. Not sighting this as solely a Lowry issue, our backline has not been great to watch this season.

Let me correct you.

Fullbacks with most appearances for top 8 URC clubs so far this season:

Magic Mike 820m from 12 URC games avg 69m
Mike Haley (Munster) 423 from 8 avg 53m
Kriel (Bulls) 711 from 15 avg 47m
Blommetjies (Stormers) 707 from 15 avg 47m
Tiernan O'Halloran 474 from 11 avg 43m
Fassi (Sharks) 360 from 9 avg 40m
Rob Russell (Leinster) 453 from 12 avg 38m
Josh McKay (Glasgow) 254 from 9 avg 28m

[Bobbievee]

Magic Merv! Where do you get this stuff?

[big mervyn]

Magic Merv! Where do you get this stuff?

It's available from the URC.but needed a bit of collating.

Usual caution about accuracy. I am NOT Cables.

[StandUp]

I'm open to correction but I don't think his metres made would be above average for a fullback this season. There was a period he would of had a line break most matches, those days are long gone. Not sighting this as solely a Lowry issue, our backline has not been great to watch this season.

Let me correct you.

Fullbacks with most appearances for top 8 URC clubs so far this season:

Magic Mike 820m from 12 URC games avg 69m
Mike Haley (Munster) 423 from 8 avg 53m
Kriel (Bulls) 711 from 15 avg 47m
Blommetjies (Stormers) 707 from 15 avg 47m
Tiernan O'Halloran 474 from 11 avg 43m
Fassi (Sharks) 360 from 9 avg 40m
Rob Russell (Leinster) 453 from 12 avg 38m
Josh McKay (Glasgow) 254 from 9 avg 28m

Hmm did you pick the lowest metre-making players to compare with? Tell the truth…